Universality: From Theory to Practice

Is universality of values, principles and norms - e. g. human rights as declared by the United Nations in 1948 - a concept that Western civilization alone recognizes? Or, if not, might it be shared by other civilizations, perhaps throughout the world? Is it or is it not an imperative we cannot avoid so long as we wish to secure global, mutual understanding, peace and life-sustaining practices? What about still imperialist nations and globally active enterprises who misuse the concept? Do basic cultural differences definitely stand against the project of a global ethic, as the Parliament of World Religions (1993) claims? - These are some of the questions tackled in this book. Answers are provided in the spirit of an interdisciplinary and intercultural debate concerning facts, possibilities, lies and necessities to be found in the ambiguous context of universal normative claims. The open, always critical, yet benevolent discourse in this volume shows differences, even incompatibilities, yet also common views and interests. It is part of the process that the Declaration Toward a Global Ethic had in mind (1993), or what Samuel P. Huntington had been pleading for when he maintained that, for 'the relevant future, there will be no universal civilization, but instead a world of different civilizations, each of which will have to learn to coexist with the others' (1993).